The Dangers of snatch straps and the forces involved.

[Jason B]

A luky escape for this poor fella, not that the accident was caused by a recovery, but it just goes to show the forces involved.

Regards


Jas

http://www.lorellasprings.com.au/rhettsaccident.htm

[BigJules]

Nasty.

[Paul (SA)]

Leaves me lost for words. OMG

[Black Diamond]

Gee that's a lucky escape. Poor bloke I can only imagine how that would have felt on impact. Chain on the end of the strap?? Bad move.

Bd

[Sicilianmama]

Omg, that's awful, poor fella wouldn't have known what hit him, he's very lucky to still be alive

[brickiematt]

Holy Shit

[Swannie]

Very very lucky man to be alive.
Greg

[Kevo]

Leaves me cold. Very lucky to be alive.

[Jon]

What is the purpose of towing the tyre?
Surely the added traction required to do so would cause the track to chop up more?

Anyway, very lucky bloke from the sounds. Anything letting go under load is not good.

[Jason B]

What is the purpose of towing the tyre?
Surely the added traction required to do so would cause the track to chop up more?

Anyway, very lucky bloke from the sounds. Anything letting go under load is not good.

Thought that my self, however apparently its to smooth the tracks over again to prevent errosion from both wind and rain when they get it. Not sure how effectice it would be.

Regards

Jas

[SteveandViv]

You see that a lot up here as well and we also saw it over in QLD last year. The tyre chops the top of the corrugation off and it does make a fair bit of difference. You can only use a chain or winch cable for this as any strap will soon be rubbed through. Fairly unusual to break like that.

[Barrabart]

Thanks for posting this Jason, always good to remind all of the potential dangers involved with loading up straps etc, especially when "bush fixes" are thrown into the mix....... Glad the young fella is on the mend, very lucky fella.

[britts]

That's 1 lucky bloke, do you mind if I post this on our club 4wd forum?

[Symon]

The chain wasn't the problem, it was the strap.  A chain should have been used instead of the strap, or a sling, or anything that doesn't store a heap of energy.

[Humbolt]

My thoughts go out to him and also his family who had to go through that ordeal.
I am sure they have learned a valuable lesson and are grateful everyone is still alive!

[Jason B]

That's 1 lucky bloke, do you mind if I post this on our club 4wd forum?

I am sure that is fine mate, its on the web.


Regards


jas

[Desert lover]

Thank goodness there were people with him to render first aid.... I do hope his recovery is complete and quick...
Desert Lover

[Patr80l]

Looked up the location on Google Maps.   They are on the Gulf of Carpentaria... a long way from anywhere.
He was very lucky; the only first aid equipment they had was toilet paper.

[Squalo]

You see that a lot up here as well and we also saw it over in QLD last year. The tyre chops the top of the corrugation off and it does make a fair bit of difference. You can only use a chain or winch cable for this as any strap will soon be rubbed through. Fairly unusual to break like that.

I don't think it was unusual - it was a literally a bomb waiting to go off. Snatch strap and chain - joined by fencing wire? One of the dumbest snatch strap accidents I've ever heard of. Just sorry that the guy who had nothing to do with putting that contraption together was the one who copped the chain in the head. The person/s responsible should never be allowed to handle that sort of gear again, they are simply not to be trusted with it.

[Redback]

I don't think it was unusual - it was a literally a bomb waiting to go off. Snatch strap and chain - joined by fencing wire? One of the dumbest snatch strap accidents I've ever heard of. Just sorry that the guy who had nothing to do with putting that contraption together was the one who copped the chain in the head. The person/s responsible should never be allowed to handle that sort of gear again, they are simply not to be trusted with it.

Yep absolutely agree, what were they thinking!!

Baz.

[SteveandViv]

Yep absolutely agree, what were they thinking!!

Baz.

Not a whole lot I'd say 

[Big Nath]

I don't think it was unusual - it was a literally a bomb waiting to go off. Snatch strap and chain - joined by fencing wire? One of the dumbest snatch strap accidents I've ever heard of. Just sorry that the guy who had nothing to do with putting that contraption together was the one who copped the chain in the head. The person/s responsible should never be allowed to handle that sort of gear again, they are simply not to be trusted with it.

I dont think this is a fair call. In the bush, ya do what works with what you have got. Yes in hindsight a silly idea. The problem is it has worked for the past 20+ years. These accidents are never good, the thing is they happen.

The tyre must of hooked on something, the wire (assume it was 2.5mmHT) has a breaking strain of some 1100LB. 

Your right, he was a very lucky bloke and yes DUMB idea.

Cheers!!

[Squalo]

When lives are at stake I'm not going to mince words. I'd bet my CT that the fencing wire went on as a stop-gap solution and was simply left there.

The injured man could have been saved by one of these, not hard to come by. Or just weld the chain closed - a one million acre property will have a welder, and someone who knows how to use it - or how about just using a webbing strap, or a rope... anything but a snatch strap!

[Big Nath]

And your probably right.

lets hope all of those still using this technique change over before any other injuries or worse occur.

its hard to explain to people whats worked for many many many years is now not safe.

Cheers!!

[Patr80l]

It's one thing to cobble together a repair with fencing wire to get you home, it's quite another to make this a design component for ongoing use.   There are laws covering homicide by negligence.